SAVE BRITAIN'S 'BELOVED' POST OFFICES

Campaign to protect our vital stores

- By Katie Harris

PEOPLE are appalled at the prospect of even more "beloved" Post Offices being shut down, campaigners have warned.

There are rising fears of further closures amid a Government consultation on dropping the rule that at least 11,500 branches must be kept open.

So the Express today launches a Save Our Post Offices crusade to campaign against cuts to the vital network.

The shadow business minister Dame Harriett Baldwin said Post Offices were a "lifeline for people who rely on face-to-face services, particularly the elderly, vulnerable people and small businesses".

Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices group for over-60s, said: "Congratulations to the Express for launching this campaign. The local Post Office is the last bastion against the march of the digital world, which is leaving millions of pensioners behind.

"You can still get your pension paid in cash at the Post Office, you can pay your utility bills by cheque or cash, you can pay in cheques and do simple banking in the growing absence of local bank branches.

"And of course buy stamps, and post letters and parcels.

"The Government should not be entertaining any reduction in Post Office branches, which provide an increasingly essential public service.